Review: Kia's Luxury Sedan Takes Aim at BMW—And Misses

The 119.9-inch “world-class”—Kia’s words—wheelbase puts it at the same scale as the A8, 750i, and LS460. It’s a touch taller than those cars, but its profile looks less boxy and lower to the ground.

19-inch, chrome-finished wheels come standard.

The car is nearly silent on the road, thanks to double-paned windows and foam insulation packed into key parts of the body.

"Power soft-close door latches” make the doors close so quietly it’s hard to believe they’re made of steel.

The second row makes this a great candidate for livery car drivers whose clients don’t insist on Mercedes.

The VIP package nets you a head-up display (one of my favorite luxury features), so relevant information like speed and navigation directions are projected onto the windshield. If

The question is, will reasonable pricing be enough to make a prospective buyer take a K900 over an A8 or 7-Series?

Sometime around 2005, I was sitting in the student lounge of my high school when I heard a girl talking about her birthday present: Dad had finally gotten her a car. Alas, it was a Kia. It’s clear the girl’s sensible father bought it because Kia has a rep for inexpensive but solid cars. Such cars, near the low end of the market, pushed Kia to its best-ever sales of 2.75 million cars last year.

So I was confused by the K900. I think everyone was. It’s a full-size, rear-wheel drive, luxury sedan. It starts for $59,500. And it's aimed at the premium market.

Wait. What? Premium market? Kia?

From a business point of view, the move makes sense. There’s big money to be made in the premium segment, and no reason Kia can’t gradually change its reputation. If it wants to jump into the luxury market, it has to start somewhere. The K900 has been available in Korea and a few other markets since 2012. Spiffed up for its US debut, the car is aimed at the segment's big dogs—the Audi A8, Lexus LS, and BMW 7-Series.

With a sticker price starting roughly $10,000 below those vehicles and a long list of standard features, the Kia is pitched as a reasonable alternative to the big-money European and Japanese sedans.

To make it in this market, a great luxury car has to do three things. It must have features and amenities that make it someplace you want to be, not just a way to get somewhere else. It has to drive well, fast, and reliably. And it must connote luxury, making it as much status symbol as vehicle.

Kia is playing catch-up on that last one, and the best way to do so is deliver on one and two. On paper, the K900 has the right ingredients: lots of fancy features and a V8 that produces impressive acceleration. But when you compare it to the work of BMW, Audi, and Lexus, it falls short. Its many features aren’t unique to Kia or even the luxury market. There’s a lot of horsepower, but it doesn’t translate into an enjoyable driving experience.

Upward Mobility

Apart from the Kia badge on the hood, the K900 looks like a luxury sedan. The 119.9-inch "world-class"—Kia's words—wheelbase puts it at the same scale as the A8, 750i, and LS460. It’s a touch taller than those cars, but its profile looks less boxy and lower to the ground. It sits on 19-inch wheels with a chrome finish.

Everything about it is pleasant, especially if you have the $6,000 VIP package I tested. It welcomes your approach by unfolding the side mirrors and unlocking the doors. “Power soft-close door latches” make the doors close so quietly it’s hard to believe they’re made of steel. In a Nappa leather covered, 16-way adjustable driver’s seat, you’ll always be comfortable behind the heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The second row makes this a great candidate for livery car drivers whose clients don’t insist on Mercedes. The seats are heated, and if you pay a little more, the ones in back can be ventilated and reclined. There's 38.2 inches of legroom, more if the passenger seat is empty and scooted up. There’s room for three people if they're good friends, but it won’t be comfortable with more than two.

If your idea of luxury is sitting on a heated, adjustable leather couch while being chauffeured around, the K900 should do just fine. The car is nearly silent on the road, thanks to double-paned windows and foam insulation packed into key parts of the body. Kia claims the interior is quieter than the competition. The soft independent suspension soaks up potholes and other obstacles so effectively you could drive down an Olympic mogul course without noticing.

Kia did its best to eliminate the inconvenient and dangerous parts of driving. The LED headlights swing to light the road as you turn. The 900-watt audio system plays through 17 speakers. The VIP package nets you a head-up display (one of my favorite luxury features), so relevant information like speed and navigation directions are projected onto the windshield. If the airbags deploy and you don’t respond to voice prompts, the car calls emergency services.

A 360-degree camera view and ultrasonic sensors make parking the car, which is nearly 17 feet long, easy. The K900 warns you when you drift out of your lane and when someone’s in your blind spot. The adaptive cruise control will bring the car to a full stop if necessary, something you don't find in every car. If you’re about to ram into someone, the car tightens the seat belts, pre-pressurizes the brake system (so the car can stop more quickly), and flashes visual and audio warnings.

The problem is almost everything in the K900 can be found on other luxury cars, and even cars the rest of us drive. Jalopnik’s Doug DeMuro argues Kia’s mainstream models threaten Mercedes-Benz because they have features once reserved for way more expensive cars. To keep up the justification for the way higher price tag, Mercedes has to develop ever fancier options. That’s why the 2015 S-Class has something called an active perfuming system and a leg rest for the back seat. It's too bad Kia didn't follow suit and come up with something new for the K900. Then again, it has found a way to offer all of this in a car that undercuts the competition by $10,000, a move that's more innovative than any odor system.

On the Move

Before sending the K900 to American shores, Kia replaced the V6 engine with a 5-liter V8 that produces 420 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque, all of it going to the rear wheels. (There’s no all-wheel drive, but the car has a “snow” setting.) Paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission, that’s enough to send the K900 from 0 to 60 mph in the mid-5 second range. The V6 will also be available for American buyers. The acceleration is impressive, but the car is so good at sheltering you from the road, there’s no fun in it. Sport mode tightens up the soft suspension, but doesn’t seem to affect the shifting or throttle response.

None of the cars in this class are particularly nimble. They're made for riding in comfort, often in the backseat. Yet Kia still falls behind its German and Japanese competitors in making a big car with some agility. Again, the K900 is cheaper than those more respected vehicles, which can make up for that shortcoming.

The question is, will reasonable pricing be enough to make a prospective buyer take a K900 over an A8 or 7-Series? This is a segment where paying nearly $100,000 is actually part of the experience: Driving an S-Class signals you can afford the best. Driving a Kia, leather-filled or no, doesn't. But the only way for the Korean automaker to change its reputation is gradually (or by creating a luxury-focused brand with a different name, a much more expensive venture). It will take years or maybe decades, but if Kia keeps making cars that aspire to be among the top dogs, it can get there. The K900 is no BMW 7-Series, but it's a good start.